Panic drove her through the caves, scale covered paws racing over stone and the occasional foliage that sprouted up here and there. Her hear raced and thudded erratically against her chest. Amaria was in a frenzied state of worry and guilt. Her child was missing. She had searched all of Orion, scaled the cliffs as if it were nothing in her adrenaline rush. Raced through all of the Forums and even had gone up the tower she was still to this day rather nervous about. She checked all the places she knew her little cub had always wanted to explore, but the child was no where to be found. The last place she had checked was the arena and much to her horror there were small signs of someone being there. Small paw prints left in the dirt that had settled over the stone. Large good marks. She had followed the tiny cub marks all over the arena, searching for any clues. It was the moment she spotted small drops of blood dried into the dirt did she truly start to panic. Amaria had boy moment after found the fallen stones from a particular area and she knew deep down inside that Cure had tried to get away.

She tried desperately to follow the bigger set of tracks, but when they had left the arena there was no more dirt to mark the direction the hooves creature had gone. And so she had fled Orion, too panicked to even think to call for Cancer and to tell him cure was stolen away. Instead she ran towards what had originally been called home. She knew of no hooved gembound, never really made at friends outside of Maji, but what she did know was that Leon knew one. Or two. She couldn't remember but he knew. Hopefully he would be able to help her.

It hadn't taken long for her to reach Pisces and she did not hesitate to go flying in to the waterfall room. "Bubbi!" She called out, repeated his name for a moment as she struggled to keep her emotions under wrap, even as tears began to burn her eyes. She had failed in protecting her child and know she was paying for it. "LEON!!!!" She finally roared out, her leopard inherited sound echoing throughout all of Pisces. She hoped and pleaded to herself that he was here. He had to be. If he wasn't she would be left to go hunting every known cave that she knew of until she could find this hooved beast that had stolen her child.

@Leon
Words: 432

ONLY TAGGING YOU ONCE SO YOU JNOW ITS HERE ;w;

Once again, Leon found himself in the doldrums of recovery - after dragging his sorry, crispy ass back to Pisces, they had shuffled him up to the den where he was finally able to relax. It still took him quite a while to drift asleep, but eventually that too had brought him some temporary relief. They covered him in leaves and poultices, soothing the burnt, bleeding skin that covered most of his back, his shoulders and his face. He felt disdain for himself and for Vazi, knowing that he shouldn't have gotten into that fight - meeting Clover afterwards had only compounded the feeling, but... why couldn't she see that he was... something was messed up with that stag. He was just doing what he thought was right...

Then again, that was what had happened between him and Cancer, hadn't it? He'd only wanted to do what was right. Back then, it was protecting Makyna, it was avenging her after he had so clearly hurt her. He only wanted to save the young lion after Vazi had struck him. Was he wrong - should he had left it alone? It wasn't his business, none of this would have happened if Leon just left Orion when he was told to, but... he couldn't bear to see the young lion suffer under the stag's wrath. A lion like Makyna, like Quintus. It could have happened to either one of them. He tried to explain this to them, and they listened, but did they really understand? Or were they simply nodding and setting it aside, pretending they empathized while stifling their blame?

The bear was drifting in and out of a cloud of sleep when he heard that voice. It rang through the cave, frantic and desperate - he thought for a second that he was hearing Clover again, but only one Gembound referred to him by that name. His brows furrowed slightly and he turned in his sleep, then she shrieked a second time, his name, and he knew that it was her.

Every time he saw her again it was like he was seeing her for the first time. He still couldn't believe that she was still alive. His heart still screamed at him, blamed him for what had happened to her, and he still felt the relief of knowing she'd made it. Or rather... disbelief. Leon opened his eyes and raised his head, but it ached. His skin felt tight and stiff. He cleared his throat, freeing it of the phelgm and fluids that gathered during his sleep, then he slowly unfolded his limbs. It still hurt considerably to move, but there was no way he'd be able to yell at her and gain her attention from inside the den. Instead, Leon dragged himself out to the entrance, peering over the ledge - he saw her, scales and fur, worried. "Amaria?" The bear croaked, blinking blearily at her.

Amaria

You fell away,
What more can I say?
The feelings evolved,
I won't let it out,
I can't replace...
Your screaming face,
Feeling the sickness inside

After her call for the bear all seemed to remain silent. Ears pinned back against her skull as her eyes quickly searched the area. A moment longer and she was about to turn and leave, but the sound of paws scuffing across stone quickly drew her attention. Her head jerked up and she peered over towards Leon's den and when she saw him pop into view her eyes seemed to well up with tears. Her called her name and she instantly moved, meeting him half way as he lumbered from his den and over towards her. Her mouth opened to explain what was going on, but as her eyes settled upon the scorched fur. The scent of blood was faint, but it was enough to bother Amaria. "Who hurt you?!" Her voice came out a little more violent than she had predicted, a snarl wrinkling her nose as she instantly closed the distance between them. Quickly she looked him over, wondering just who had caused the bear to gain such wounds.

However, her focus didn't remain on Leon long when the sudden reminder of her child quickly fell back into focus. "Bubbi, someone has stolen Cure. I don't... I don't know who, but it was some kind of hoofed creature. I found tracks in the arena. And blood. Bubbi they've hurt my baby. I am not a tracker. I need help finding her. Do you know anyone?" Her brows furrowed with her distress. She searched his eyes desperately, hoping beyond hope that he would know of someone. Or even better, if he had heard rumor of some kidnapping herbivore that liked to snatch cubs out of orion.

Who ever it was, for what ever reason they did it. They would not get away with it. She would tear them to shreds the moment she found them. Just thinking about seeing the bastard that had stolen her child away sent a boiling rage into her gut and sent her in a spiraling daze of rage and panic. Her child was hurt, how badly she did not know. If Leon could not help her, then she would try someone else. She also did not want to burden her brother who did not seem to be in his top condition anyway. Even if all he could do was point her in the right direction then even that she would be happy with.


"Speech"

Tags:
Words: 399
OoC:

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Keep on trying I’ll not die so easily
I will not die…
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
I will not die…
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
I will not die…

The bear gazed down at her - it was evident that she was panicking about something and desperate for his presence after her feline roar resounded through the cave. Leon eventually pulled away from the ledge and made his way down the slope, taking slow, careful steps - his skin was still too taut and too easily damaged for him to be reckless. He did eventually make it down the pathway towards the ground, and Amaria had met him halfway, first gasping at the flurry of fresh wounds that swept across his back like the fire that consumed him not long ago. His brow furrowed slightly and he shook his head - it wasn't important, and he didn't want to worry her. "I'm fine," He answered shortly. If she really had to know, he'd explain to her later but his primary objective was learning what had gotten Amaria so worried.

Sure enough, she explained that somebody had stolen Cure. Leon frowned slightly - then he remembered that Cure was one of her daughters, one of the Gembounds whose chrysali Cancer had been so adamantly guarding during her absence. Had he seen Cure yet? The bear reached into the depth of his mind, but he couldn't recall it. The one that had been visiting the Lorekeeper during her story introduced herself as Remedy, so the bear had to assume that Cure looked pretty similar to her (despite her mysterious beak and Amaria's mysterious lack of a beak). He nodded and listened closely as she mentioned that it was a hoofed creature of some kind, then he felt his heart drop. Had it been Vazi, seeking vengeance for Leon's transgressions...? Vazi was the only hoofed creature he could think of that occupied Orion and was terrible enough to do such a thing. And blood - that meant Cure had been taken by force, so it would rule out Clover, too.

The bear leaned onto his rump and sighed. "I... It could have been Vazi." He started, flicking his orange eyes up to the dragon-feline. "He's the only hoofed beast I know of that lives in Orion that would be up to this. He's got some kind of anti-predator agenda." The bear said slowly. "I met him there a few days ago..." Did he need to say more? Leon cleared his throat and rose back to his paws, stretching forward to bump his nose against Amaria's. "I'll help you find her. If it was him, then... I can't help but feel like its my fault." The bear sighed his frustration. If Vazi had seen Leon's attempt to rescue the lion as a challenge against his cause, then its more than possible he'd act out by doing something like this.

Amaria

You fell away,
What more can I say?
The feelings evolved,
I won't let it out,
I can't replace...
Your screaming face,
Feeling the sickness inside

Vazi. The name rung through her thoughts and fur began to bristle along her spine. Her nose scrunched as she tore her gaze away from Leon as she recalled just who Vazi was. She had never truly met him. He had only been at that stupid game that stupid sheep held. The game that seemed to be the start of what she had thought to be her family tearing apart. He had been near Arkrael, the wolfess she had come to pass only a few times. Her jaw gritted as she struggled to contain her rising anger. An ear swiveled, twisting towards Leon as he began to speak again.

He would help. A relieved sigh escaped the mutated leopard as she finally turned her gaze back to her brother once more. She opened her mouth, just about ready to question Leon about what he meant by it being his fault, but a sound halted her instantly. A roar that thundered through the tunnels. It was not nearly as loud as it probably was in the place it was formed, but she knew who it was. Amaria whipped her head around, eyes wide and concerned. "That's Carce. I have to go. I have to tell him. You can come if you want, but...he has to know," She whimped quietly as she gave a concerned frown to her brother. She knew he was still healing from whatever had caused those burns and she did not want to make things difficult for him, but she had to go. With one small, and gentle, head bump to his cheek, Amaria turned on paw and bolted off. Heading back towards Orion where Cancer was summoning his family..



"Speech"

Tags:
Words:
OoC: -Exit Amaria-

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Keep on trying I’ll not die so easily
I will not die…
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
I will not die…
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
I will not die…

Breaking through the silence was a roar, and Leon fixed his eyes on the clouded leopard. A knowing nod followed. Of course he had to know - there was no way something like this could be kept secret, and doing so would just be... wrong. Leon huffed and moved forward; the pulling of his burnt skin was painful, but he would follow through. He had to do this for Amaria. If anything... he had to do this for her. He charged after the leopard, intent on finding her missing daughter and righting the wrongs between them all.

exit leon